Lineo, maker of Embeddix (the operating system that powers the Sharp Zaurus), is in hot financial water. There have already been layoffs, and it is rumored the company has bounced paychecks and found its office doors padlocked by landlords due to overdue rent. Lineo has apparently never been profitable, but then again it has never had a vehicle like the Zaurus. Currently, the company is set to go up for auction tomorrow, though Matt Harris, CEO, claims the auction is meant only as a “trigger mechanism” for the company to recapitalize. Major investor Canopy says that Lineo really is up for auction. What does this mean for Zaurus owners? What does this mean for Sharp? Read more at Linux Gram, and thanks to PDABuzz for the link.

USER COMMENTS 2 comment(s)

Open Source(11:42am EST Thu Apr 25 2002)Lineo can tank without sucking Sharp's hopes for the Zaurus along with it. The OS is open source and freely available on Sharp's website. The only difference is that for maintenance and upgrade work Sharp may have to write a check to someone other than Lineo… if the open source community doesn't do the work on its own for free.

Will the Zaurus be impacted by this? Not at all. That's the great thing about a Linux-based PDA — you don't need to worry about obsolescence. More importantly, neither do enterprises.